James Streckfuss of University of Cincinnati, Ohio reviews Grid: The life and times of First World War fighter ace Keith Caldwell for The Journal of Military History:
‘Aerial reconnaissance was the essence of air power in World War I. Airmen’s reports of happenings on the ground set up Allied forces for victory in 1914's Battle of the Marne and put in motion the race to the sea that confined both sides to the trenches for most of the rest of the war. On the Eastern Front, German aircrew spotted advancing Russian armies in time to prepare for their own critical win at Tannenberg. Throughout the long period of stagnate warfare that characterized fighting throughout 1915, 1916, 1917 and the first months of 1918, airplanes and balloons regulated everyone's artillery fire. The millions of maps that aided commanders in planning and conducting operations were continually updated by aerial photographs. In short, aerial reconnaissance specifically, and the addition of a third dimension generally, changed the character of the Great War and the course of all subsequent warfare. From 1915 on, combat pilots patrolled the skies in an effort to hunt down and destroy the enemy's reconnaissance fliers while protecting their own, and New Zealand's Keith Caldwell was one of the war's best fighter pilots.
Keith Logan Caldwell was born to wealthy parents in Wellington, New Zealand in October 1895. Initially enlisting in the infantry at the outbreak of WWI, Caldwell signed up for private flying lessons as a way of easing his transfer to the Royal Flying Corps. After making his way to the UK. and effecting his switch to aviation, Caldwell began active duty on the Western Front in a general-purpose unit, No. 8 Squadron, flying the venerable-and vulnerable-two-seat BE2 on reconnaissance, artillery spotting, and light bombing missions. Scoring an aerial combat victory on a BE2, while not impossible, was hardly a regular occurrence. Managing to do so frequently marked a pilot as someone worthy of a reassignment to single-seat fighters. Caldwell's first victory came in September 1916, just two months after his posting to No. 8 Squadron. His transfer to No. 60 Squadron's Nieuport fighters followed just a few weeks later in November. His next victim fell in December, but Caldwell would not score again for another six months. Great War aviation historians generally agree Caldwell may have been in more aerial combats than any other pilot of the war and that his score might have been much higher than his eventual bag of 25 had he been a better shot. Be that as it may, Caldwell finally achieved the magic number of five victories-ranking him among the aces-on 24 June 1917. From there, it was a steady uphill climb. Caldwell became a flight commander in May 1917, but left No. 60 Squadron in October for a course at Gosport's School of Special Flying, before going on to a few months as an instructor before promotion to major and his ultimate WWI assignment in command of No. 74 Squadron. Scoring another sixteen victories before the armistice, "Grid" Caldwell, along with Edward "Mick" Mannock, Ira "Taffy" Jones, and other prominent fighters, established "Tiger Squadron'' as one of the war's most formidable combat units. Caldwell's 25 victories also established him as New Zealand's leading WWI ace.
Like many Great War veterans, Caldwell returned to civilian life following his demobilization. In Caldwell's case that meant farming, marriage, and raising a family. When the Second World War erupted, New Zealand's top fighter pilot once again answered his country's call. Too old for a combat assignment, Caldwell served in a variety of training and administrative assignments, finishing the war as an air commodore.
In the decades between WWI and his 1980 death, Caldwell was notoriously reticent about discussing his combat exploits and turned down numerous requests to write his memoirs. Consequently, this is the first comprehensive biography of Caldwell to appear, filling a gaping hole in WWI aviation historiography. The author, Massey University's Adam Claasen, brings a strong background to the task of chronicling Caldwell's life. In addition to a Smithsonian Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship, and a Massey University research team medal, Dr. Claasen has authored three earlier combat aviation works: The Luftwaffe's Ill-fated Campaign, 1940-1945; and two with New Zealand themes, Dogfight: Anzacs in the Battle of Britain; and Fearless: 1he Extraordinary Untold Story of New Zealand's Great War Airmen.
Grid: The Life and Times of First World War Fighter Ace Keith Caldwell is a meticulously researched, extremely well-written, and beautifully presented contribution to the field of Great War aviation history. Veteran researchers as well as those new to the field will want to add this to their collections.’
